Get to the point!

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
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bwwma
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Get to the point!

Unread postby bwwma » Mon Jan 28, 2019 12:43 pm

It seems like "Get to the point" is the rallying cry on highly pressured public land as hunters seem to rush to them. I walked a little over a mile to check out an area in hill country to find 2 hunters in Orange talking on the point of a ridge parallel to the ridge I was on. I'll give it to them, there wasn't any easy way to get to where either of us were at but no matter the difficulty or distance, points seem to get the most pressure in the hill country I hunt. Deer seem to avoid bedding on the obvious points in my area and bed in more subtle locations. Benches, outcroppings, bluffs, nasty thickets. Has anyone else experienced this? If so where do your deer typically look to bed?


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backstraps
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Re: Get to the point!

Unread postby backstraps » Mon Jan 28, 2019 1:24 pm

I actually see more hunting pressure in the obvious saddles and bench overlook areas

One thing I have noticed about pressure ive seen on points.... hunters are typically hunting deer coming off the points like beast hunters
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headgear
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Re: Get to the point!

Unread postby headgear » Tue Jan 29, 2019 2:09 am

I find permanent rifle or ladder stands on perfect bedding points all the time, they offer those amazing views for hunters who can see a long way, little do they know that they are hunting on top of a likely bedding area but I am sure the pressure they apply to those stands makes them pretty useless for shooting a mature buck.
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Re: Get to the point!

Unread postby bwwma » Tue Jan 29, 2019 5:36 am

backstraps wrote:I actually see more hunting pressure in the obvious saddles and bench overlook areas

One thing I have noticed about pressure ive seen on points.... hunters are typically hunting deer coming off the points like beast hunters

Yes I've seen saddles in our area receive a good bit of pressure also.
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Re: Get to the point!

Unread postby bwwma » Tue Jan 29, 2019 5:39 am

headgear wrote:I find permanent rifle or ladder stands on perfect bedding points all the time, they offer those amazing views for hunters who can see a long way, little do they know that they are hunting on top of a likely bedding area but I am sure the pressure they apply to those stands makes them pretty useless for shooting a mature buck.

That has been my experience as well. They'll post up on the point which typically has a creek below it and be able to see a lot of land in the late winter. Have you had success finding beds in alternate locations when pressure is on the points?
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headgear
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Re: Get to the point!

Unread postby headgear » Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:33 am

I find the bucks in the thicker areas that have been logged or sometimes bowls in hill country that can pull in the thermals.
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OH nontypical
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Re: Get to the point!

Unread postby OH nontypical » Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:53 pm

I see less bedding on points and more in bowls with greenbrier thickets on the Public I hunt in NE and SE Ohio. I also see more hunter sign on the points. The points lacking hunter sign do seem to have the best sign but are hardest to find.
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elk yinzer
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Re: Get to the point!

Unread postby elk yinzer » Thu Jan 31, 2019 4:17 am

I find hunter sign just about anywhere that is obvious via topo or aerial maps now. I can spend 10 minutes cyber scouting a property and give you a pretty long list of areas you're highly likely to find treestands. Sure many are in bozo land but a lot of them are textbook areas by Dan's bed-hunting mantra too.

Edges, transitions, points, hubs, saddles, you name it. I don't see very many barriers to access either, and distance from the truck is definitely not one of them. I have features I look for to cut down hunter pressure but I am to the point I am not even talking about them anymore. Here in PA we have the highest bowhunter density in the nation and a lot of guys willing to go to great lengths. It really is competitive and you have to stay out in front unless you enjoy company. It takes creativity to have public honeyholes to yourself. If I'm being honest I kinda dig it, the cat and mouse game to always stay ahead of everyone else.

This computer type of scouting was pretty new 10-15 years ago and could be very effective to the point I could pinpoint good spots. Now everyone is doing it and the quality of maps is better than ever before. Those types of spots are gone for me now. I have had to look for much more subtle features that require boots on the ground scouting. Map scouting is about finding general areas, access, human pressure now. Luckily there are still a whole lot of features you can't identify on maps and have to pound dirt to find them.
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bwwma
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Re: Get to the point!

Unread postby bwwma » Fri Feb 01, 2019 3:13 pm

elk yinzer wrote:I find hunter sign just about anywhere that is obvious via topo or aerial maps now. I can spend 10 minutes cyber scouting a property and give you a pretty long list of areas you're highly likely to find treestands. Sure many are in bozo land but a lot of them are textbook areas by Dan's bed-hunting mantra too.

Edges, transitions, points, hubs, saddles, you name it. I don't see very many barriers to access either, and distance from the truck is definitely not one of them. I have features I look for to cut down hunter pressure but I am to the point I am not even talking about them anymore. Here in PA we have the highest bowhunter density in the nation and a lot of guys willing to go to great lengths. It really is competitive and you have to stay out in front unless you enjoy company. It takes creativity to have public honeyholes to yourself. If I'm being honest I kinda dig it, the cat and mouse game to always stay ahead of everyone else.

This computer type of scouting was pretty new 10-15 years ago and could be very effective to the point I could pinpoint good spots. Now everyone is doing it and the quality of maps is better than ever before. Those types of spots are gone for me now. I have had to look for much more subtle features that require boots on the ground scouting. Map scouting is about finding general areas, access, human pressure now. Luckily there are still a whole lot of features you can't identify on maps and have to pound dirt to find them.


That's been my experience as well. If the spots jump out on the map there's a high percentage chance they have hunting pressure, I've been looking for places that don't stand out on a topo map.
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Re: Get to the point!

Unread postby greenhorndave » Sun Feb 03, 2019 6:16 pm

I would add to that a bit as I mark every ladder stand or evidence of other stands on my scouts. The deer know darn well where they are and will adjust. The textbook locations then will cease to be textbook. As elk alluded to, I like to try and use that awareness to my advantage and figure out how the game changed.
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